Friday, July 14, 2017

Trump is suing over property taxes at his Florida golf course

President Trump just can't seem to make up his mind about how much his golf club is worth.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida has been estimated at $18.4 million, but Trump thinks that's too high even though he's said in the past that it's worth as much as $50 million.

So now, Trump's company, Jupiter Golf Club LLC, is suing Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks, Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, and the head of the Florida Department of Revenue.

It's not uncommon for tax valuations to be disputed, but Trump has been clearly contradicting himself over the last couple years.

From the Post:

President Donald Trump’s financial disclosures in 2016 and 2017 list the value of Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter as “over $50 million.” But in an ongoing lawsuit against the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, Trump insists the value “should be no more than” $5 million. When it was appraised during its struggling year of 2012, Trump said he paid $5 million. Every July since 2014, he's sued to challenge the appraisal of the course. That year, he complained that the taxable value, estimated at $25 million, was much higher than its actual worth.

With the 213-acre property valued at $18.4 million, the tax bill would be listed at $383,171. This is a very rough estimate, considering a commercial property appraisal only measures the value of the real estate and not the entire business operation.